Pete Schabarum on Term Limits

I read with a good deal of amusement Pete Schabarum’s defense of Prop. 140 (“A Change That Opens State’s Political Doors,” Commentary, Nov. 13). No doubt Schabarum is well-qualified to describe the perils arising from the seniority of elected officeholders--here’s someone whose snout and hoofs have been in the public trough for several decades.

Now, in an ironic twist, Schabarum has anointed himself as the keeper of the public conscience, purse and morality--with a good deal less justification than those in Sacramento he has chosen to attack. Schabarum has now served five terms as a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. I would like to know why Schabarum was an active participant in promoting the same type of empire-building, self-perpetuation and irresponsibility in the county that he decries in the Legislature.

LEON COOPER

Malibu